The Speaker

The poem’s central character is its anonymous speaker. This speaker narrates the poem, which from its first line centers on the speaker’s actions, most notably that they “have eaten / the plums” (1-2). The reader is told almost no concrete facts about the speaker, whose gender, name, and relationship to the addressee are all unknown. However, the poem also presents an intimate look into the speaker’s interiority and relation to the addressee through the plum confession. The poem shows the speaker to be clever and playful as they feign remorse for eating food the addressee was “probably / saving / for breakfast” before ultimately making clear that they do not regret eating the “delicious” plums at all (6-11). In doing so, the poem also conveys closeness between the speaker and addressee, portraying a relationship that can withstand and “forgive” the speaker’s gentle teasing (9).

The Addressee

The...